The Football Association today announced the first external consultants who will work on England's 2018 World Cup Bid.

The FA has appointed european consultancy network Ltd, (ecn) - headed by Peter J Hargitay, Special Adviser to the FIFA President Sepp Blatter since 2002, and Markus Siegler, FIFA's former Communications Director.

Mr Hargitay will terminate his consulting work for the FIFA President next month in order to avoid any conflict of interest, while Mr Siegler has left FIFA after 12 years in October of this year to join ecn.

Both consultants have worked together for nearly six years at football’s world governing body. The ecn team assigned to The Football Association numbers four consultants and senior consultants, who will act as strategic campaign advisers to The FA.

Hargitay and Siegler have vast experience of FIFA’s internal procedures and operations through their previous positions.

A spokesman for The FA said: "We are delighted to be working with a company that has huge knowledge and experience of international football associations and great individual contacts within the world game.

"We expect a highly competitive bidding process with several countries from three continents already having voiced an interest to bid for the 2018 World Cup, and it is very important we have such international experience working with us."